How to apply to Aligned Labs

Who can join

• Be at least 18. The account step refuses a younger date of birth ('You must be at least 18 years old to legally consult on our platform'), and its Terms of Use say the same.
• Live outside the 27 places it cannot take: Afghanistan, Belarus, the Central African Republic, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Haiti, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Macau, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. Aligned cites legal and regulatory restrictions, allows no exceptions, and says using a VPN or proxy to get around it means immediate suspension.
• Expertise it can verify. Its Expert FAQ says qualified experts usually have advanced degrees, 10+ years of professional experience, teaching experience or a strong portfolio, and that experts with verifiable credentials are approved first.
• Fluent English writing, which all 15 of its open roles ask for (8 of them at university level), plus the role's own bar: a PhD in mathematics, statistics or operations research with 5+ years of research for senior mathematics; a civil or structural engineering degree with 3+ years of practice, PE licensure strongly preferred, for civil engineering; an advanced finance degree or a CPA, FRM, CISA or CFA charter with 5+ years of experience for finance.
• A government-issued photo ID whose name, date of birth and country match your account, and a camera for a selfie. Aligned says its clients, and many governments, require the check, and that it cannot evaluate or assign anyone to paid projects until it is done.
• A bank account you connect through Stripe in Payment Settings, choosing the country where your bank is located: that is how Aligned pays.
• Work as an independent contractor who handles your own taxes.

Step by step

1. 1

   Create your account

   Sign up at app.alignedhq.ai/signup with Google, Apple or an email and password. Creating the account accepts its Terms of Use and privacy policy.

2. 2

   Tell Aligned who you are

   Enter your legal name exactly as on your government photo ID (you can add a preferred first name), your date of birth, country of residence, city, state or region, and gender (Prefer Not To Say is an option). Once onboarding is done, only support can change your legal name, date of birth or country.

3. 3

   Show your expertise

   Add your LinkedIn URL (marked 'recommended for faster approval'), the languages you read and write fluently, and your resume, uploaded or pasted as text. Then list licences, certifications or membership IDs, each with a link where your standing can be checked (a bar or medical board number, a CFA or CPA ID), and links to verifiable work such as Google Scholar, GitHub or a faculty page.

4. 4

   Set your hourly rate

   Enter the hourly rate in US dollars you want. Aligned says it matches new projects to its most qualified experts with the most competitive rates, and recommends new experts enter the lowest rate they would be happy to work at, using a job posting's pay range as a starting point. You can change it any time in Settings.

5. 5

   Verify your identity

   A third-party service checks your ID and a selfie against your account details. Turn off virtual backgrounds and camera filters, remove your hat and glasses, and use good light against a clear background. If verification fails, your account is locked and you cannot finish signing up; support can look at it if you think it was a mistake.

6. 6

   Wait to be matched

   Aligned reviews your expertise and emails you from info@alignedhq.ai when it has work for you; there is no job list to browse. Its dashboard warns that finding the best match may take some time, 'if we find one at all'.

7. 7

   Sign the NDA and finish the campaign's onboarding

   Campaigns open after you sign Aligned's NDA, as yourself or for a business you work through (its tax forms then use that business name). Some campaigns ask you to choose your areas of expertise or add a Google Drive email for shared files, and where a campaign allows it you become Active as soon as you finish its onboarding.

8. 8

   Do the work and log it

   On hourly campaigns you submit a timesheet, which shows your submitted and approved hours side by side and a notice when a week's earnings are on hold for review; since 5 Aug 2026 some campaigns pay per approved task instead. Job instructions sit at the top of each campaign's message board, where you can also message Aligned staff directly.

9. 9

   Connect your bank and collect

   In Payment Settings choose the country where your bank is located and connect it through Stripe. Earnings become ready to collect every two weeks on Tuesdays: you press Collect Payout, and Stripe holds the money for a time set by your bank's country, up to 2 business days in the US, 5 in India and 7 calendar days in the UK, Canada, Germany or France.

Tips to get accepted

• Price yourself to be picked: Aligned recommends the lowest hourly rate you would be happy with, raised as you get feedback on your performance, and suggests a job posting's pay range as a starting point.
• If you sign up by email, look for a 6-digit code in your inbox, and check your spam or promotions folder if it has not arrived.
• Turn off ad blockers and privacy extensions before the ID check: Aligned says they often stop its identity verification service from loading.
• Do every task yourself. Its Terms of Use (29 Oct 2026) forbid AI models and chatbots, scripts and bots, and translation, grammar-checking, proofreading or rewriting tools unless the task instructions allow them, and editing such output does not make it allowed.
• Check each campaign's instructions often: its COO says frontier projects change their requirements frequently, and that Aligned posts the changes on its message board and holds weekly office hours.
• Its terms send disputes to individual, binding JAMS arbitration; to keep your right to go to court, opt out in writing to legal@alignedhq.ai within 30 days of first agreeing to them.